[miketyson]

Episode 9: fast, intense, some derpy movements here and there, but still ok everywhere it really matters.

Spoiler for Ep9 Details:

I'm starting to see why Yuno's voice actress got hired. Let's just say she's good at some things even if she's not as good as others.

Like episode 8 this episode streamlines the manga events a bit. Unlike in episode 8 I'm not sure it's an unambiguous win, but doing it this way means they can finish this arc in a single episode, whereas the original version seems like it would've needed another half episode to conclude.

The main difference as I remember it is that in the anime the game goes more smoothly. I seem to recall a bit more back-and-forth than happened here, but could be misremembering.

It's still a bit confusing how Akise wins the game, so I'll explain my understanding:

Spoiler for Winning the Game:

Akise's strategy is a two-part thing.

Part 1: if Yukiteru's diary has the truth in it there's no way to win against Hinata. Without the diaries there's still no guaranteed way to win, but there'd be a chance to win (roughly 50/50). It's the difference between no chance and a chance.

Part 2 is noticing that Yukiteru's diary only records what he would've thought at the time, not "the truth". He figures this out b/c Yukiteru's diary thought Hinata was actually dead.

Putting 1 and 2 together, as long as Akise and Yuno can prevent Yukiteru from seeing the outcome of the game they have about a 50/50 shot at winning. So they do, and they get lucky, and that's what the deal is, I think.

I'm hoping the show will find time to animate the omake wherein Hinata's father gets his diary. That omake will be the best omake, imho.

Given where this ends the next episode has the potential to be completely amazing from start to finish.